Cleaning-brush



c. M. BRO WN.' CLEANING BRUSH. APPLICATION FILED JAN. H. 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

WI TN 255:

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ATTO R N E VS.

Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

0.. M. BROWN. CLEANING BRUSH.

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE 1V1. BROWN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0PITTSBURGH PLATE GLASS' COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CLEANING-BRUSH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

Application filed January 11, 1917. Serial No. 141,743.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE M. BROWN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOleanmg-Brushes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cleaning brushes and particularly to thatclass of brushes used in cleaning the exterior of clay pots used in themanufacture of plate glass.

In the manufacture of plate glass, pots are placed in a furnace andfilled with glass batch, and when the glass has been melted the pot isremoved from the furnace by a suitable crane and carried to the castingtable thereby. Certain foreign particles, such as cinders, particles ofclay, etc., adhere to the bottom of the pot and these are removed byhand with suitable brushes, before the casting operation so that noforeign particles will drop upon the casting table. This invention hasfor its principal objects, the provision of a machine for quickly andeiiiciently removing foreign particles from the exterior of glass makingpots; the provision of a machine that may be moved into engagement withthe pot as it is suspended from the crane; the provision of a rotarybrush that is effective for thoroughly cleaning the entire bottom of apot; the provision of a cleaning machine that is simple, inex pensiveand effective; and such other objects as may hereinafter appear. Oneembodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,wherein- Figure 1 is a plan view of the device, and Fig. 2 is alongitudinal section on the line IIII of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the device consists of a vertical shaft 1supported at its lower end in a socket 2 pivoted to one end of acounterbalance lever 3. The counterbalance lever 3. is keyed to ahorizontal shaft 4: supported in a bearing 5. Keyed to the shaft 1 is alever 6 which is adapted to rock the shaft 4: to cause oscillation ofthe counterbalance lever 3. The lever 6 is connected with an operatinghandle 7 by means of a connecting rod 8 which is pivoted to the free endof the lever 6 and to the operating lever 7 at a point above the lowerend of the operating lever. The lower end of the operating lever 7 ispivoted to a bearing block 9 and movement of the operating lever to theleft will cause the left end of the counterbalance lever to movedownward thereby causing the vertical shaft 1 to be lowered.

The counterbalance lever and the lower portion of the operating lever 7are arranged in a pit 10 beneath'the floor level, indicated by A, andthe free end of the counterbalance lever is provided with a plurality ofcounterbalance weights 11 adjustably secured thereon. It is the purposeto adjust the weights on the counterweight lever 3 so that they justbalance the weight of the vertical shaft and the mechanism can riedthereby.

The vertical shaft 1 is supported against lateral displacement by a topbearing 12 which is supported between a pair of channels 13 extendingacross the pit. The lower portion of the shaft is supported in a bear-'ing 14: carried between a pair of channels 15 extending across the pitbeneath the floor level.

A bevel gear 16 is keyed upon the vertical shaft 1 adjacent its lowerend and held against relative rotation thereabout by the key 16, but thehub 17 of the bevel gear is slotted throughout its whole length so thatthe shaft 1 may move longitudinally through the bore of the hub.Therefore, the shaft 1 may be reciprocated vertically without causingany vertical movement of the bevel gear 16.

The bevel gear 16 is rotated by means of a bevel pinion 18 keyed to ahorizontal shaft 19. This shaft is supported in bearings 20 and 21 andcarries at the other end a spur gear 22 keyed to the shaft againstrotation, which gear meshes with a pinion 23 carried by anelectric'motor 24L. Rotation of the motor 241 will, therefore, causerotation of the shaft 1 at a less velocity than the motor, owing to thereduction in gear between the motor and the vertical shaft.

The upper end of the shaft 1 carries the cleaning brush mechanism whichconsists of a bearing block 25 provided at its upper end with aspherical surface 26 upon which is mounted for universal movement abrush support 27 The brush support 27 is secured to the bearing block25by means of a bolt 28 which extends through an enlarged slot 29 in thebearing block and the shaft 1. It will be seen that the bearing blockand brush support cannot rotate with respect to the shaft, but that thebrush support may oscillate universally within certain limits.

The brushes comprise a pair of circular brushes 30 and 31. Each brushconsists of a plurality of wires 32 inserted in an annular wooden base33. The bases 38 are mounted upon metal disks 34. The disks 3% areprovided at their center with acupped bearing 35 upon which is mountedcrown bearings 36. The crown bearings are secured to the cupped bearingsby means of bolts 37 and when assembled form a ball socket. The brushesare pivotally supported upon the brush support by means of ball pins 38having a ball on one end and threaded on the other. The threaded poretion is screwed into the ends of the brush support 27 and locked inplace by means of jam nuts 39. The ball ends of the pins 88 areclampedin the sockets formed by the crown bearings 36. The disks 3d arefree to oscillate universally within certain limits upon the pins 38 andmay also rotate thereabout.

The brushes 80 and 31 are alike in every particular except size, thebrush 31 being of greater diameter than the brush 30. As shown in Fig. 2the smallerbrush 30 is pivoted at a greater distance from the center ofthe shaft 1 than the brush 31. Thererubbed and cleaned by the brusheswhen the shaft 1 is rotated. Rotation of the shaft 1 causes rotation ofthe brushes about the shaft and their contact with the bottom of the potcauses the brushes to rotate about their pivot pins 38. It will be seenthat the bottom of the pet can be cleaned free of all foreign particlesin a very short interval of time when the brushes are rotated. Theoperation of the devices is as follows.

Assuming that pot'has been removed from the furnace by the crane, it isthen brought into position directly over the brushes so that the centerof the pot alines with the axis of the shaft 1. At this time the brushesare in theirlowermost position. When the pot has been lowered until itnearly touches the brushes, the motor is started to cause rotationthereof and the op erating lever 7 is pulled toward the right, thusraising the brushes into contact with the bottom of the pot. A pot isindicated in operative position by the dotted lines B. The disks 34: areprovided with openings 40 which permit the dirt to fall through "so thatit cannot accumulate in the center of the brush. The portion of the pitbeneath the brushes is provided with a cover 11 adapted to preventforeign particles from falling upon the gear mechanism beneath. W henthepot has been thoroughly cleaned by the action of the brushes theoperating lowered away from the pot. then stopped until it is desired toclean an other pot.

The brushes and brush support are mounted for universal movement so thatshould the bottom of the pot be warped or uneven, the brushes can adaptthemselves to any such irregularities of the pot and thoroughly cleanthe entire bottom surface.

It is obvious that vertical movement of the shaft would not benecessaryas the pot may be lowered into contact with the brushes by thecrane mechanism which supports the pot, although it has'been found moredesirable to elevate the brushes while the pot is being held stationary;"It is also-obvious that many changes may be made in the details withoutdeparting from the'spirit-of the invention and the invention istherefore not limited to the specific means herein illustrated anddescribed.

What I claim is: I

A cleaning brush for comprising in combination, a vertical rotary shaft,an upwardly directed brush carried at the upper end of the shaft,adapted to engage the bottom of a pot, a counterbalance for the shaftits uppermost position, and means for moving the shaft vertically.

CLARENCE M. BROWN.

glass melting pots,

tending to hold the shaft in

